If the man's idea was to rescue the goats, you can see that they come out dead. (video below)

January 14, 2016, NewsCrunch

You may have seen gory videos of pythons swallowing prey.

Here is a bizarre video of a man getting the prey out of the snake’s belly.

The video shot at an unidentified location in Kerala shows a python with a bloated stomach – a sign that it has made a kill and eaten it.

A man steps into frame and starts pressing the python’s stomach and manages to make it regurgitate the goats.

The video makes you cringe and it is not clear what the man is trying to do. If his idea was to rescue the goats, you can see that they come out dead. His actions were widely condemned on social media for interfering with nature.

Cringe video: Python swallows two goats, Kerala man presses its belly to get them out

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Punita is a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi, who successfully switched to a brilliant career in finance

January 14, 2016, NewsCrunch

The appointment of Punita Kumar Sinha, wife of Union Minister Jayant Sinha, as an independent director on Infosys Board has drawn criticism.

An independent director of Infosys earns Rs 1 crore annually in sitting fee and other remuneration.

Punita’s surprise appointment at Infosys was quickly seen as nepotism and a smart move to gain government favours. Both the arguments are silly.

Infosys has tried hard, but gets less than 3% of its revenue from Indian market. No amount of government favour is going to help it increase its domestic business, which remains complex and unappetising.

Infosys also does not need to reach out to Indian government to lobby for any policy shift. There is Nasscom for that, India’s most successful trade body.

Punita does not need any nepotism to get on to the Infosys board. Before starting her own investment advisory firm ‘Pacific Paradigm Advisers’, she was a Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Group and Chief Investment Officer of Blackstone Asia Advisors.

In that role, she handled billions of dollars in fund management.

She has been featured by The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Forbes, Fox News, Bloomberg and other international publications which would give two hoots about her family connections.

Punita is a chemical engineer from IIT Delhi, who successfully switched to finance as she felt that in the 1980s technical jobs were biased against women.

She got a Masters in Finance from the elite WhartonSchooland later a doctorate as well from the same school.

However, Punita has been in controversy earlier also.

In 2000, when her father-in-law Yashwant Sinha was finance minister, he went easy on foreign institutional investors over a double taxation issue.

His political opponents had claimed that he had taken the stand to benefit Punita though nothing came of the allegation.

Video - Not from Andhra, but shows how knives are tied to claws of cocks

Freedom of the press going too far, says Raveena in the viral video – but the real story is different (Videos below)

January 16, 2016, NewsCrunch

A viral video which shows Bollywood star Raveena Tandon abusing media has turned out to be nearly fake – a clever editing job.

In the short clip Raveena angrily says in Hindi that the 'freedom of the press' has gone too far; it is being misused to hurl abuses at people, she adds.

The video shared by Twitter user @GnomeBaba quickly went viral.

It did not take much time for the trolls to target the actress, who is often seen challenging the liberal opinion. The viral video was touted as a yet another evidence of right-wing supporters’ attack on media.

But as it turned out the clip was part of a larger video which was shot in 2012, when Raveena was shooting for a movie Shobhna's Seven Nights.

In the full clip Raveena, who is skimpily clad for her movie role, says she will not pose in costume dress as it can misunderstood.

She points out a specific instance in which a daily published a costume photo and said she went out to regular events looking like that.

It was in that context she complained of about freedom of pressing getting misused to abuse people.

Further, it was a private conversation as Raveena ends the clip asking if anyone was recording it.

For long, devotees believed that the divine Jyothi was a manifestation of the god Ayyappan himself

January 15, 2016, NewsCrunch

Though it has been clarified that Makara Jyothi is man-made, it remains the pilgrimage highlight for many devotees, who visit Sabarimla on the Sankranti day.

The holy light appears at dusk on the day of Makara Sankaranthi on the Kantamala hills facing the Sabarimala temple.

For long, devotees believed that the Jyothi was of divine origin, a manifestation of the god Ayyappan himself at at Ponnambalamedu, believed to be his abode.

In 2012, bowing to pressure from rationalists and media, Sabarimala temple authorities clarified that Makara Jyothi was a "deeparadhana" performed by a pries.

They also made a distinction between "Makaravilakku", a ritualistic lighting of lamp at Ponnambalamedu and Makara Jyothi, a star that appears on the skies on the Makarasamkrama day above the Ponnambalamedu.

Historians say lighting the lamp atop the Ponnambalamedu hill has been an ancient tradition of tribal communities living around the hillshrine.

Video: Watch Makara Jyothi at Sabarimala – though clarified as man-made, it still draws devotees ( after 7 minutes)

Kangana did not name the man, who hit her so hard her head started bleeding. (Video below)

January 15, 2016, NewsCrunch

Kangana Ranaut has thrown light on what girls go through during their struggling years in Bollywood.

Speaking at the launch of journalist Barkha Dutt’s book, This Unquiet Land, she told a shocked audience that she was stalked and beaten up by a man from the industry.

She was just 17 then.

She did not name the man, who acted as her mentor and godfather; he stalked and hit her on the head once so hard that it started bleeding.

She took out her sandal and hit his head hard in return, making it also bleed. Though she lodged an FIR against the man, the police just warned him and let him go.

Born in Bhambla, a small town in Himachal Pradesh, Ranaut shifted to Delhi when she was 16 and became a model.

She made her film debut in the 2006 thriller Gangster, for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. After Woh Lamhe (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007) and Fashion (2008) there was no turning back for her.

Kangana Ranaut says she was beaten up by a Bollywood celebrity when she was just 17 (Watch video)

Feeling crowded Siddaramaiah seems to have tried to shove away those in the vicinity to make space…(Video below)

January 16, 2016, NewsCrunch

Kannada TV channels played up a grainy footage on Saturday and said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had been caught on camera slapping an official.

But the Municipal Corporation Commissioner of Ballari, Ramesh, said the CM had done nothing like that. “I had gone to give him a bouquet and slipped a little. CM just raised his hand, while asking his security personnel not to push,” he said.

The Chief Minister’s office also has denied the media reports.

The poor quality of footage makes it open for various interpretations.

Hundreds of people turned up to greet Siddaramaiah, who had gone to Ballari on an official engagement. Feeling crowded Siddaramaiah seems to have tried to shove away those in the vicinity to make space, which may have led to the incident.

Siddaramaiah, a seasoned politician, is known to keep to maintain decorum while dealing with officials. It was his predecessor Yeddyurappa, who was known to lose his cool and get into similar controversies, though even he had never slapped any official.

A 14-month-old girl fell from her second-floor home in Brazil but survived miraculously.

A CCTV camera that was in the vicinity shows the child falling in force face down. She is still for a moment, then stirs and tries to get up. She is in a daze and falls back a little. But that does not stop her from trying to make a get away.

Passersby rush and look up; they can't believe where the child has fallen from and how lucky she is to survive.

The video also shows the mother rushing out of the building in panic to take back the child clutching on to her.

The Daily Mail identified the unbelievably lucky toddler as Helena Beatrice Nascimento, who lives in Ceara, Fortaleza in Brazil. She was reportedly sleeping next to a window without grills and toppled over accidentally.

Helena's grandmother said she was saved by angels though eyewitnesses said telephone wires broke her fall and saved her life.

Helena was taken to a hospital where doctors said she just had a few scrapes and minor injuries to her head, and let her go.

Bhavna Arora threw ink at Kejriwal when he was speaking at an event in Chhatrasal Stadium near Model Town colony, New Delhi. (Vido below)

January 18, 2016, NewsCrunch

Bhavna Arora, a woman claiming to be part of AAP rebel faction in Punjab threw ink to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.

A video footage shows her saying she had proof of Kejriwal's involvement in in CNG and odd/even scam.

Kejriwal has suffered similar attacks in the past. While campaigning for Delhi polls in 2014, an auto driver had slapped him hard, giving him a swollen face. Later, during Varanasi camaign, ink and eggs were thrown at him.

These attacks have never been probed seriously - they could be political conspiracies or individual rage. They are perhaps harmless as long as they are limited to ink and eggs.

Many Indian politicians including the likes of Sharad Pawar have faced these attacks. But none perhaps none with the frequency Kejriwal has been subjected to.

All politicians have opponents, but it is the lax security Kejriwal moves around with, which is key to his brand of aam aadmi politics, that makes him particularly vulnerable.

CNG vehicles were given stickers that exempted them from odd-even scheme; the sting CD reportedly reveals that these stikers were sold illegally.

Aam Aadmi Sena's plan to release sting CD may not create a splash as Delhi Government had already taken note of the scam and acted to check it.

Gopal Rai had told Indian Express in early January that he had received information about a sting operation on fake CNG stickers.

He said Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) has been briefed and a case of breach of trust registered against the accused, he had added. Following is complaint, Delhi police had also made a few arrests.

Rai had also stated that the Delhi government had decided not to issue any more CNG stickers till the process could be streamlined.

CNG cars are exempted from the Delhi government’s odd/even scheme and cars that run on CNG need to have a sticker issued by the authorities to avail of the exemption. “Till now, we have issued 3.90 lakh CNG stickers in Delhi and NCR.

Katrina left the bash 13 minutes after Salman entered – but still controversy kicked in

January 18, 2016, NewsCrunch

Though Bollywood stars as a rule don’t comment on the rumours on their love lives, Katrina Kaif has taken the trouble to deny her growing linkup with ex-boy friend Salman Khan.

Media is agog with reports that Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan had a secret meeting at a night club on Saturday. One report even said Katrina had rushed to the club when she came to know, Salman was there.

Media has been on fire speculating on Katrina’s breakup with Ranbir Kapoor and how she is rebounding back to Salman Khan.